Commentary on the 2006 Agreement
(in parts:
Additional commentary to the german version from the AKU listserve)
Lydia Bartz (urgewald)
"Germany continues to import pulp and paper from primeval forests that are
being destroyed in BC. Our responsibility for this destruction does not
change with this agreement: Germany must drastically reduce its paper
consumption."
Götz Ellwanger (Natura 2000 specialist, BFN)
"The agreement is not an international model for sustainability. . .
One certainly does not have to be a prophet to see that the lumber
industry will continue to do as it wants in 2/3 of the GBR, especially
as no agreement will be made until 2009 on EBM."
Hereditary Chief Qwatsinas (Nuxalk Nation)
The House of Smayusta was not part of the original agreement signed on April 04, 2001 because it was part of, and connected to the BC Treaty process.
(...)
The House of Smayusta fought to save the "Great Bear Rainforest" (GBR) not to deal it away or trade it off. We believed, and loved that the GBR is far more than a logging opportunity, a bargaining chip, or governmental PR tool; we want it to remain intact, and standing. It is a rare species of endangered temperate rainforest nearing extinction; it is a global treasure that does not have boundaries. Our people, the Nuxalk faced extinction before the turn of the century in 1900 ad.; our ancestors had the wisdom to see, and feel this, so they put a plan in place. Which succeeded for us. I am a Nuxalk; I know what that feels like today. The GBR cannot speak for itself, and needs our help, otherwise it is going to die. For humanity; it will take thousands of years to rebuild itself again, to where it once was. I would hate to leave that legacy in the next hundreds of years for the next generations.
(...)
Do we have to cut every tree down, because it is standing there? Maybe, as humans; we have failed to be teachers to ourselves, and to the future. Not in the name of the Indian people of BC, should the destruction of the GBR be allowed, and that is the way, it appears over here.
(...)
I am still strong in believing that we must love the land, and waters because of what it gives to us. I am praying for the grizzly bear, because so much of their homes are going to destroyed soon. Of course, my prayers go out to all the other life within the GBR.
(...)
I tried my best to save it. I would do it all over again, because we all can make
a difference. It'll be worth more than we think. Will you buy shampoo, paper, and other products from the GBR?
Angelika Hanko (Staedtisches Gymnasium Loehne)
"There is a lot of positive energy over here in Germany. But as we have
a close relationship to the Nuxalk Nation, especially to the House of
Smayusta, we are thinking about how to help them out. If they get a bad
deal we will certainly not accept that. We will urge the German paper
industry to keep up the pressure."
Greg Higgs (FAN)
"Perhaps we should gather the ENGO campaigners in BC and abroad and
FNs who want more protected and come together for a meeting (ie Vancouver
or Bella Coola) to try to figure out what steps can be taken to achieve more
in the future."
Jutta Kill (FERN)
"None of the radio or newspaper reporting has mentioned the size of the
compensation paid to the forestry companies - or made a link to the
overall annual allowable cut in BC not having come down at all, just
moved to the Interior where the forestry industry has cheap access to bark
beetle kill pine."
Philipp Küchler (AKU)
"Today (20 February 2006) Raincoast Conservation Society released a
readable press statement on the GBR agreement. At last, one of the
environmental groups in Canada has come out with an open and sound
critical statement."
Christian Offer (ecodevelop, Berlin)
"The whole discussion should focus on the question of how such highly
compromising deals are communicated in public. . . the over-enthusiastic
applause for the deal leaves us with a feeling of resignation over the
status quo of its minimal outcome."
Karen Wonders (Georg-August Universität Göttingen)
"There should be no negotiations over the cutting of ancient trees. These
should be sacrosanct, as they are in Europe. Half of the GBR has already
been clearcut and big trees are rare in any case, so the extermination of
any of the surviving giants must be condemned as barbaric.
|